Abstract
Data from coastal tide gauges, oceanographic moorings, and a numerical model show that Arctic storm surges force continental shelf waves (CSWs) that dynamically link the circumpolar Arctic continental shelf system. These trains of barotropic disturbances result from coastal convergences driven by cross-shelf Ekman transport. Observed propagation speeds of 600-3000 km day-1, periods of 2-6 days, wavelengths of 2000-7000 km, and elevation maxima near the coast but velocity maxima near the upper slope are all consistent with theoretical CSW characteristics. Other, more isolated events are tied to local responses to propagating storm systems. Energy and phase propagation is from west to east: ocean elevation anomalies in the Laptev Sea follow Kara Sea anomalies by one day and precede Chukchi and Beaufort Sea anomalies by 4-6 days. Some leakage and dissipation occurs. About half of the eastward-propagating energy in the Kara Sea passes the Severnaya Zemlya into the Laptev Sea. About half of the eastward-propagating energy from the East Siberian Sea passes southward through Bering Strait, while one quarter is dissipated locally in the Chukchi Sea and another quarter passes eastward into the Beaufort Sea. Likewise, CSW generation in the Bering Sea can trigger elevation and current speed anomalies downstream in the Northeast Chukchi Sea of 25 cm and 20 cm s-1, respectively. Although each event is ephemeral, the large number of CSWs generated annually suggest that they represent a non-negligible source of time-averaged energy transport and bottom stress-induced dissipative mixing, particularly near the outer shelf and upper slope. Coastal water level and landfast ice breakout event forecasts should include CSW effects and associated lag times from distant upstream winds.
Highlights
As a final example of the potential magnitude of continental shelf waves (CSWs) effects in the eastern Chukchi Sea, we show results of the group D integration, a 2-D numerical model described by Danielson et al (2014)
We have demonstrated that analyses of a combination of observational datasets and a range of numerical model simulations of varying forcing complexity allows us to at 8, 10, 12, and 13) data suggest that continental shelf waves (CSWs) initiated over the least partially decompose the synoptic Arctic Sea surface height (SSH) field into these Kara or Laptev seas may exert their influence over the course of different mechanisms
Summary
Pan-Arctic Continental Shelf Waves adjustments (Whitehouse et al, 2007), and global sea level rise (Proshutinsky et al, 2004) These processes each have characteristic amplitude, time and length scales that depend on basin geometry, forcing functions, and restoring mechanisms. Continental shelf waves (CSWs) have been identified as sources of synoptic-scale oceanic variability in both the Atlantic (Calafat et al, 2013) and Pacific (Pickart et al, 2011; Danielson et al, 2014) sectors of the Arctic Such waves form an important bridge between the work of wind upon the ocean, its transmission via oceanic fluxes of kinetic and potential energy, and its eventual dissipation, which may result in diapycnal mixing. These fluctuations depend on basin shape and bathymetry (section “Setting”), generation mechanisms and dynamical characteristics of CSWs (section “Wave Classification”), and wave propagation around the Arctic margins (section “Linking the Shelves”)
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